Forget Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney, the world's top star is actually... Henry

30 October 2009 10:53

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Number one: Thierry Henry in action for Barcelona

Thierry Henry is the best footballer in the world, according to the inaugural Castrol rankings.

The men behind the list claim they use 'objective analysis and 100 per cent accurate data to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games' to determine the rankings.

The French international scored five goals and provided three assists during Barca's successful Champions League campaign last season and has contributed a further 18 goals and eight assists in the Primera Liga during the 12-month period which have helped him become the world's best performing player.

The key to Henry's success has been the accuracy of his shooting with the forward finding the target with 70 per cent of his shots compared to an average of 42 per cent across the five main European leagues.

The Barclays Premier League contributes only five players to the Castrol Rankings Top 20 with Liverpool striker Fernando Torres the highest rated player in fifth position.

However, the Premier League has more players (33) in the top 100 than any of the five major leagues. Spain's Primera Liga contributes 28 players, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga both contribute 15, while nine players are from France's Ligue 1.

Castrol top 20 world footballer rankings

Third: Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo

1. Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

4. Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

6. Samuel Eto'o (Inter)

7. Rafa Marquez (Barcelona)

8. Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)

9. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

10. Claudio Pizarro(Werder Bremen)

11. Dani Alves (Barcelona)

12. Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)

The tenth best footballer in the world? Claudio Pizarro of Werder Bremen

13. David Villa (Valencia)

14. Frank Lampard (Chelsea, right)

15= Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)

15= Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)

17= Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

17= Emmanuel Adebayor (Man City)

19. Christian Abbiati (AC Milan)

20. Roberto Solado(Getafe)

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